Aliyu Sadiq, who graduated from the university in 2019, is the founder of Ecocykle, a youth-led start up, focused on providing solutions to the problem of waste, climate change and environmental pollution. He spoke with THE WHISTLER about his Eco Toilet Project and why Nigeria needs to take decisive steps on plastic management.
You introduced An Eco-friendly Toilet Project. What Is The Project About?
We introduced an impactful project which is the Pet Eco Friendly Toilet Project, and this is like a double-impact project because we looked at solving a problem using a problem: that is, using plastic waste which is a problem, to create a solution to address open defecation, especially in rural schools which have poor toilet facility.
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It was remarkable because we used over 6,500 plastic bottles to build a male and female toilet facility that is fully equipped, and this now helps the students to have a place where the girls can go to change their sanitary pads during their menses, and as toilets for the girls and the boys. Before now, they used the bush to defecate openly, and that’s why we chose that particular school.
Why Did You Embark On This Project?
Open defecation is an environmental problem, and the Nigerian Parliament passed an ‘open defecation’ bill to help curb the problem, then relating to climate change, when you have defecation from humans or animals, over time they degrade. Once they degrade due to biological activities, it releases methane. Methane is one of the greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change. So, when this is done excessively, it contributes to the amount of greenhouse gasses just as wastes on dumpsites release this same methane.
The pet project was a multi-impact visionary project, and while we use plastic wastes to address open defecation, in essence, solving the problem of plastic solution, creating awareness on pollution, it was strategic to be in a school because it was aimed at enlightening and sensitizing students, creating a change in behaviour so that they are able to identify that waste can be used as a resource to create solution. Secondly, the plastic waste was gathered from the community. Women were engaged to buy and bring these plastics to us. So, it was a form of profit creation, job creation during the project.
How Did You Go About Constructing These Toilets?
In the process of construction, we engaged over 40 young people in the process of filling the plastic bottles with sands. Daily, they were able to make 1,500 naira to 2,000 naira during the span of the process.
We had about 40 teenagers of about 11 – 18 years, doing the building works. Averagely, we were filling up 200 plastic bottles with sand.
It took us about 6 weeks to complete the building of a unit of the toilet. The filling of the bottle was the most tasking of the processes. Filling 6,500 bottles with sand was not easy, but it was exciting because we engaged a lot of young people who were excited. It was just not engaging them but it was also teaching them. During the process, they were also gathering knowledge on how waste can be a good circular economic model to address the pollution problem.
How Many Toilets Have You Built So Far?
The toilet project is a novel project. We just started it this year, and so far, we have done two toilets, one for the males and one for the females, and this is expected to serve 600 to 700 students of a primary school in Nasarawa State. And going forward, we hope to, with the support of our partners, replicate this project in schools and communities within Nasarawa State and the FCT.
We hope to build on the plastic bricks to make it a commercially viable product that can be sold to many communities which we are currently working on. We hope to construct over 200 toilets within the next 2 years. We are targeting local communities to train about 5000 women and youths, especially on skills relating to waste upcycling and recycling.
What Makes The Toilet Unique?
The toilet is designed putting into consideration all structural standards. So, we have some parts that were reinforced with concrete in a strategic manner because it is a new project. So, we had to develop a lot of strategies. But strength is guaranteed. If you touch it, it’s like bullet proof because it is sand-filled, and it is stronger because when you subject it to a physical test, it is really strong. So, it is a project that is expected to last for hundreds of years. Plastics don’t decompose, so termites cannot feed on it. It is not just cement, so it doesn’t experience the wearing of normal cement that sometimes leaves holes in the walls. It doesn’t have any hollow space in it like blocks. These, put into consideration, make it very strong. And due to the shortage of resources, we were not able to provide a standard water system in the toilet, but just 10 meters away from the toilet, there is a borehole constructed by the school but recently renovated. So, it is now actively working. We have drums and buckets donated to the project, so that the pupils can easily fill and make use of and refill, to ensure that it is sustainable. The toilet has a soak away pit that absorbs the faeces, and it has an opening through which the faeces can be collected for other purposes. We have plans to utilize the faecal waste for other projects like production of methane cooking gas in the near future. So, it is a very sustainable and lasting project.
Prices might vary. Some of the materials used were sourced locally. Now, the cost of producing in Nasarawa might be different from the cost of producing in Lagos. Some of the sand we got from the soak away pit we dug, and we bought some. Now, we may not get to find free sand in some other communities, and the cost of cement is rising every day. I can’t be specific on that. It is designed to be 5 by 6 feet for a single unit with one stooling point to allow convenience and privacy.
What Have Been Your Challenges?
One of our most daring challenges has been the behaviour of the residents and individuals because we have a lot of setbacks in terms of pushing our ideas. We have had a lot of discouragements. Another thing about behaviour is that a lot of people are not open to new ideas. Once you come up with a new idea, nobody wants to accept it until everybody accepts it.
Also, funding has always been a challenge to us because we are young people. I graduated from the university in 2019 and did my youth service in 2020, and rather than just sitting down and waiting for jobs, I felt I have some skills I need to build on to solve problems. So, we started with nothing. I was able to get a team that understood the vision. So, we were practically using our funds to do community clean ups, sensitization, digital awareness on climate change and environmental management. So, we have literally used our personal funds and it’s challenging because ‘even a river needs more water to sustain itself.’
What Other Projects Have You Introduced?
We recently launched a card game to create awareness around climate change. The game is titled ‘Play, Learn and Act Now (PLAN)’, and can be played by a minimum of two and maximum of five players.
It is an innovative card game that aims to inspire young people to be able to understand issues on environment and solutions to tackle these problems.
What inspired this game was looking at the gap of knowledge amongst young people towards being part of driving the SDGs and while we have limited time to achieve the SDGs by 2030, young people who play a key role and serve as catalysts for this change are not fully equipped.
So, we thought of an innovative way to empower young people with the knowledge that can enable them to easily understand this game that will make them contribute to solutions, to actions and impact and ensure environmental sustainability and climate action.
You have cards that have pictorial representation of problems affecting the environment such as floods, desertification, deforestation, while you also have cards that have solutions to the problems like good and proper waste management, afforestation and other solutions.
All of these are blended with alphabets and numbers to enable young people to seek the solutions to the problems on board. By doing so, it is building consciousness on what are the major solutions to some problems while playing.
So, as they are playing it and having fun, they are also grasping this concept, and it is inspiring them to take action.
In one year, we will donate 500 PLAN environmental education card games to 100 schools across Nigeria, directly impacting 5000 young people.
What Do You Think Nigeria Should Do About Plastic Waste Management?
The truth is, the climate is already irreversibly damaged. But whatever solutions we are proffering is for the earth not to become much more damaged than it is already. The earth is already currently heading towards 1.5 degree Celsius average global temperature, and it is expected that even if we stop all forms of emissions and all form of plastic production, the earth will still go beyond 1.5. There are already predictions. Waste, generally, contributes to climate change. Plastic production contributes to climate change. So, plastic does not just affect climate, it also affects environment, it affects human health, if it affects biodiversity. It has a lot of multi-impact. But to climate change, that is why there is a lot of conversation, convention, policies. Some countries like Rwanda, Kenya have banned the use of plastic in their countries. In Rwanda, they make use of paper bags alternatives. In Nigeria, we are yet to ban it, and we produce and generate a lot of plastic due to our population. A country of about 240 to 250 million population producing plastic every day without any sustainable plan. Ending plastic globally might be a very big challenge, but providing a circular strategy to mitigate the end life of plastic is currently a sustainable alternative.